Seven of the World's Best Beach Drinks

Pictures of partying co-eds got you longing for your younger, more carefree days? If you're too old, too busy or just too plain broke to get out of town for a spring vacation, not to worry. One of the best parts of a warm-weather getaway is the drinks, and on that we've got you covered. Click through the next few pages to see the recipes for seven of the world's best beach drinks, almost as enjoyable sipped in your own backyard.

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Caipirinha

The national cocktail of Brazil is the caipirinha, a simple drink made with a base of cachaça. Cachaça, or sugar cane rum, has only become widely available in the U.S. in the last decade, which explains the drink's rising popularity. Chow.com recommends the Pitú brand of cachaça, citing its similarity to the cachaça found on the streets of Rio. The recipe below is from Chow.com.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

4 Key limes, halved and seeded, or 2 small, juicy limes, quartered

2 ounces cachaça

Directions:

Sprinkle the sugar over the limes, and muddle them in the mixing glass part of a Boston shaker until the sugar is dissolved and the lime juice is released. Pour an old-fashioned glassful of cracked ice into the mixing glass, add the cachaça and shake. Return all the contents to the old-fashioned glass.

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Cape Codder

Named for the famous 65 miles of Cape Cod, Mass., where cranberries are plentiful come fall, this is one of the most famous beach drinks in country. Some just call it a "vodka cran" after its ingredients, just your favorite vodka and cranberry juice. Proportions are up to you.

Goslings Black Seal

Dark and Stormy

If there's one thing you need to know about making a proper Dark and Stormy, it's to be sure to use Goslings Black Seal rum. Often referred to as the "national drink of Bermuda," the cocktail is easy enough to make at home. You'll just have to conjure up the images of those pink-sand beaches as you sip away. The recipe comes from Goslingsrum.com . Ingredients:

One part Gosling's Black Seal Bermuda rum

Three parts spicy ginger beer Directions:

Pour over ice and garnish with a slice of lemon or lime.

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Killer Bee

Sunshine, of Sunshine's Beach Bar and Grill on the Caribbean island of Nevis, is the mixing master that created the Killer Bee. The bar has been blown away by hurricanes time and time again, but Sunshine's keeps coming back. Not even the swanky Four Seasons Resort next door can deter visitors from the considerably less swanky Sunshine's – in fact, Four Seasons guests are frequent visitors. The drink is a form of rum punch and the exact recipe is a secret; rumshopryan.com's recipe is as close as you'll get.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons honey

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup club soda

1/2 cup light rum

1/2 cup passion fruit juice

Nutmeg, starfruit and lime, for garnish

Directions:

In microwave-safe bowl, microwave honey and 1 tablespoon water 30 seconds or until honey is dissolved.Stir in rum, juices and pepper; divide evenly between glasses with ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with nutmeg and fruit.

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Limoncello

So ubiquitous on the Amalfi Coast is Limoncello that you can come to expect it to be served after every meal. Served in a shot glass, it's meant to be sipped slowly, like fine tequila, but many people prefer it over ice or mixed with tonic. Theoreticlly, you could make your own limoncello by soaking lemon peels in grain alchohol, but it's so much easier to purchase a bottle at your local liquor store.

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Painkiller

The Painkiller can be found at many bars in the Virgin Islands, but it was made famous on the tiny island of Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands. The original can be found at the Soggy Dollar bar, so named because it's accessed primarily by people jumping off their boats and swimming to the island – resulting in soggy dollars. The proportions are a secret, but this recipe comes very close to the original:

Widely available in the Caribbean but an absolute must on a Jamaican vacation, the rum drink may have actually originated at the Planters Hotel in Charleston, S.C. No matter where it really comes from, there are several variations on this Caribbean classic, but they all have one thing in common: rum. This recipe comes from esquire.com and claims to be the "perfect" Planter's. Ingredients:

3 ounces dark rum

1 ounce lime juice

1/2 ounce lemon juice

1/2 ounce grenadine

1/4 teaspoon superfine sugarDirections:

Stir well with cracked ice, then strain into a Collins glass full of cracked ice; stick a straw in it and garnish with "whatever the hell you want." They recommend using Jamaican rum.